The Yadunandan Center for India Studies, in conjunction with prominent members of the Indian community in California, organized a fundraising event in the honor of Dr. D.R. Sardesai and his latest book, India: The Definitive History.

D.R. Sardesai is the former chairperson of South and South East Asian studies and the first holder of the Doshi Chair in Indian History at the University of California, Los Angeles. He has authored more than a dozen books and 200 articles on India and Southeast Asia. His special contribution to the role of trade in the expansion of the British Empire and in the understanding of Indian foreign policy, especially toward Southeast Asia, has established his name as one of the leading scholars of his day.

D.R. Sardesai has been interviewed dozens of time on radio and television in U.S. and India on topics concerning India and Vietnam. He has been honored by numerous organizations of Indian Americans for his contribution to the better understanding of India in the U.S. What is less known about Dr. Sardesai is his devotion to students. Apart from serving on nearly 200 Ph.D. committees, he directly supervised fourteen students at the doctoral level. His former students who are successfully established in their own careers remember that his office door was always open to both undergraduate and graduate students. They emphasize that he took his mentoring duties seriously, both out of a keen sense of professionalism and a personal sense of decency, but also because of his deep humanity.

Beginning in 2007, the Yadunandan Center for India Studies will hold an annual undergraduate essay competition. The contest will be open to all undergraduate students enrolled in educational institutions in the Southern California area.Participants will be invited to submit entries on previously announced themes related to India Studies. The best essay entry will be awarded the D.R. SarDesai Prize.